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Black History
Early Parks in
the Black Community
by Professor Willie Burton, Southern University
They use to say that the popular “Blue Hole” at the foot of a wooded
area of off
Anna Street
had no bottom. It was here that many groups of black youths in the
Allendale /
Lakeside
area came to swim and play jungle, and here that several drowned. It
was not uncommon to find similar makeshift swim areas and play areas
for blacks in
Shreveport.
The first city parks for blacks in
Shreveport
were
Buffalo
Park, located on the corner of Garden and Boisseau Streets, and Caddo
Park, located on the corner of Clay Street and St. Mark Street. Both
were located in the Allendale area. These two parks existed from 1907
to 1913. In 1917, Palace Park on Dale Street came into
existence.
These parks came into existence because of donations from a few
churches, benevolent and Masonic groups, philanthropists, and
occasionally, the city. However, because these were donations and not
a permanent means of revenue, up keep on the grounds and equipment
were inadequate.
Boykin Colored City Park was started in 1925. The park was situated in
Allendale where the Canaan Village Apartments now stands. It was
turned over to blacks in 1925 and named after the black man who owned
a large tract of property along and bordering Holzman Street. By 1930,
Boykin Park, the only park serving the city population of 30,000
blacks, had six swings, two merry-go-rounds, and a small pavilion.
Ingersoll Elementary was built next to the park.
Sometime during the early 1930’s, the name of the park was change to
Lincoln Colored Park. This was during the Great Depression, and so
there was little money available. Maintenance and equipment declined;
the park was insured for the time being because of its proximity to
the Palace Park Baseball field.
By 1952, 10 acres of
Lincoln Park
was sold to Caddo Parish School Board for the new
Ingersoll
Elementary School. The park’s softball court still had no lights or
stands, the playground equipment was dilapidated and a park director
was available only in the afternoon during the summer months. In the
1970s Mt. Canaan Missionary Baptist Church changed the entire area
into a housing complex,
Canaan
Village.
The
Lakeside
Park
area was originally a white golf course and park. When the Broadmoor
Golf Course and the Shreveport Country Club were built, white
residents moved to those areas, eventually turning the Lakeside Park
over to blacks.
After World War II, the 45-acre Lakeside Park began to become a
respectable place for recreation. There were, in actuality, two
swimming pools, a recreation center, and a game and outdoor playing
area.
Hollywood Park’s early existence was largely due to the unceasing
effort of Mrs. Hattie Perry. In 1938, with the help of people such as
Mrs. Effie Stringer Nash and Miss Aline L. Smith, Mrs. Perry was able
to purchase 21 lots of
Hollywood Avenue
to be used as a playground. These lots belonged to Mrs. I.L.
Heidingfield, a white landowner in the area.
In 1956, the
Shreveport
Parks
and Recreation register listed four recreation facilities for blacks:
(1) Hattie Perry Park, (2)
Lincoln Park,
(3) Lakeside Park and Pool, and (4) Lakeside Golf Course. By the late
1970s, the A.B. Palmer Park (Cedar Grove), Kennedy Airport Park (Mooretown),
and the David Raines and Lear/Hawkins Park, both in the Cooper Road
area, were opened in black communities.
The integration of park facilities also lessened the strain of
provided separate but equal recreational activates for all citizens of
the city.
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